Speculative Fiction—an all-encompassing genre created to describe stories of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and other stories that have an element of “What if...” in them. A story in speculative fiction is one that adds an element of the unreal, or asks, what would become of our society if history took a different direction at some important event? Fiction with a little something extra thrown in.—William D. Richards

Pages

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Aspiria Rising by Douglas Barton

Release date: November 15, 2017

Subgenre: Dystopian thriller

About Aspiria Rising:

Persecuted and Forced to Rebel against the Meritocracy

Like
most people on his world, Dominy worships the ground scientists walk
on. He can't wait to work with the brightest minds in the galaxy at
Aspiria, the intellectual capital of civilization. Unfortunately, many
of them are disappearing.

Desperate to solve the mystery, Dominy
recruits a band of fellow academic trainees. Together they set out on a
manic journey through deserted basements, forgotten particle
accelerators, and jam-packed futuristic stadiums.

When they
uncover a shocking conspiracy, Dominy realizes he may hold the key to
keeping civilization alive. With time ticking away, he confronts the
capital's leadership only to discover a madman is involved in an
unimaginable galactic plot.

Aspiria Rising is a utopian sci-fi
thriller for the ages. If you like mystery, heart-pounding suspense, and
a touch of quirky romance, then you'll love Douglas Barton's debut
novel.

Excerpt:

Dominy
stood at the edge of the crowd in Sector Four, desperate to compete, desperate
to start his new life at Aspiria.

Two
moons, the color of polished copper, loomed above the academy's skyline. Like
eyes, the orbs seemed to stare at him, measuring him up, assessing his
intelligence. He turned around. The planet's fierce sun
rested at the horizon. Later it would strike its vengeance. But not now.

It was a perfect morning.

He pushed through the throng of
white-robed students and headed for a violet awning, the venue for his first-ever
match. Dominy was the rare outsider selected to attend the academy, and he felt
special, invincible. But he knew that wasn't true, not at Aspiria. His mother's words rang in his ears:
Always exude confidence, regardless of your true feelings. Dominy wasn't so
sure. He hadn't mastered that skill.

No time like the present. He stared straight ahead,
laser-focused on the task at hand, and strutted along the quadrangle's
cushioned surface. Walk tall. Walk tall.
Walk tall.

"Hey,
Dominy."

He
turned to the familiar voice. Nalton.
The frail student with a twisted spine was Dominy's assigned
escort at Aspiria on this new world, the planet P1.

"Hey, race you to the arena?"
Nalton sported a
greatest-day-ever grin. The boy couldn't run but
instead hobbled on thin legs like an injured bird.

Dominy returned the smile.
He raised his fist
toward the cobalt sky in salute to his new friend. "Absolutely."

He led Nalton through the
crowd and they made their way atop a ten-meter-square competition platform
awaiting Dominy's match. Nalton tapped the silver-rimmed stage with his sandal
toe. "You ready?"

Dominy inhaled a whiff of
ammonia. Nasty. Most likely, it had been used to swab away the sweat after the
last match. Maybe he'd use that chemical smell as a trigger to focus during his
match. "Sure." I am aren't I?

He pulled his processing notepad from his pocket and retrieved the dataset on
his teammate, Shalene. For this
match, he was only an assistant—a so-called handler—to Shalene. But he had to
be at the top of his game anyway. She could call on him at any time. He glanced
back at the leering moons. Assistant or not, leadership would measure his
individual performance. For the rest of his life. His notepad flashed. Shalene's
test scores and competition data scrolled up. Those mind-warping statistics! He
hadn't even met the top-performing genius and he already idolized her.

The sun hung above the
horizon, its rays coloring the academy's science laboratories a beautiful magenta.
He closed his eyes and pictured himself working with Shalene, as partners,
solving the galaxy's greatest problems.

Nalton tapped him on the
shoulder. "Hey, you sure you're okay, you look like you're dreaming."

At the north end of the
arena, two young men approached the platform. "That's him! That's Vernan!
He's the one!" Waves of cheers from the spectators greeted Vernan as he
and his handler stepped up to the platform.

About Douglas Barton:

Douglas Barton lives in Northern California where he writes
science fiction to escape the mundane business world and express his
vision of story worlds. He's married and has two half-human half-aliens
(teenage boys).

No comments:

Post a Comment

About the Speculative Fiction Showcase

We are a blog about all things indie science fiction, fantasy and horror. Read interviews with and guest posts by spec fic writers and keep current on news from the SFF world and the latest spec-fic releases.